I can remember when this would have been the way it was

In the "old days"
Originally uploaded by THNguyen

But that time is not anymore. July 4th is just another day; this year it's just another Wednesday. Some people are celebrating what it used to mean, but they're not doing it in public. Any picnics and sparklers are being held behind closed doors.

There was a protest near the old federal building here in Portsmouth, but it lasted all of about 45 seconds from what I've been told. A group of people, including parents and their children, attempted to stage something of an Independence Day rally. From what I've been told, they unfurled a couple of stars & stripes, and were unmercifully attacked by a group of black-stocking-headed jihadists. My understanding is that provincial and central government law enforcement officers literally turned their backs to the attack.

This is what has become of our country. This is what has become of our country because we thought the world was ours. What some of us have learned is that the world is not ours, and neither is our own land anymore.

This evening, I reread the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, all the while wondering where in former USA these documents still mean something other than a hope or a distant dream.